Ryan denounces 'repugnant' views of Virginia white nationalist marchers

Speaker of the House Paul RyanPaul Davis RyanMcCarthy, Scalise just stop short of calling for Sessions to be held in contempt House chaplain presides over first prayer since rescinding resignation The Hill's 12:30 Report — Sponsored by Pfizer — Trump accuses Mueller team of secret 'conflicts of interest' MORE (R-Wis.) condemned the gathering of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday, calling the views of the protestors “repugnant.”

“The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant,” Ryan said in a tweet. “Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.”

The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry.

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 12, 2017

Ryan’s tweet came as Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) declared a state of emergency, with clashes between white nationalists and counter-protestors growing violent.

Fights broke out hours before a protests was scheduled in Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park, where white supremacists, white nationalists and alt-right groups were gathering, originally prompted by opposition to the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Saturday’s rally followed a Friday night protest in which hundreds of white nationalists carrying torches marched through the campus of the University of Virginia.

Police arriving on the scene declared the protest an "unlawful assembly" and told demonstrators to disperse after there marchers wound their way through campus shouting slogans like “white lives matter” and “you will not replace us.”